clothes for a second baby | where to start?

It’s got to that stage. You know, the stage where, no matter how much you’d rather not, you have to start thinking about buying baby clothes and what he or she is going to wear.

What a statement! You can tell it’s my second child. I was literally spewing with excitement when faced with a blank to-buy list for the impending baby Tibbs! This time around, thinking about clothes for the new baby, I’m unable to part with my money.

I’m looking at the more economical and fun ways of getting clothes for a second baby.

Tips for getting pre-loved and second-hand baby clothes

Keep it in the family – work in tandem with your siblings, cousins, or any relatives, relaying clothes to each other between your children. It’s easier to be straight with family – you can’t offend them as easily, you can be choosier, you can say if something’s beyond wear

Remember seasons – only accept or look for clothes which will work according to seasons. If your mate offers you an entire wardrobe of clothes for your January baby, and her son was born in July, nothing is going to fit at the right time

Keep ‘nursery’ clothes in separate bags – ie/ the clothes that the kids ruin at nursery that are more stained with paint, which will still be good for another set of tummies and knees to wear to nursery

Dry whites outside, the sunshine really does get the poo and baby food stains off. I don’t know why!

If you can, try Napisan – it also works a treat

Tips for buying new baby clothes

Six good quality sleep suits and six good quality vests will get you further than 20 of each if they are not nice fabric or don’t wash well. Tibbs had some lovely unisex suits, to start off with, from John Lewis. You’ve got to love JL for those sorts of basics – these Baby Bear sleep suits for example – cuteness!

For very tiny babies, look for sleep suits with integrated scratch mitts – this will save you a world of pain when you realise the face-scratching thing is a thing

Also, don’t buy footless sleep suits for a baby born in anything other than Summer – you’ll always be worrying their feet are cold

Don’t, no matter how cute, buy anything for a newborn that buttons up the back. I would echo this for those suits that have the u-shape of poppers from ankle to ankle as well – tough work when you’ve got a lot of crying in your ear

Scour the sales, join every bargain hunting site, even if it means you need a separate email address for it. I’m a fan of lovethesales (this Joules Sale for example is worth keeping an eye on) and Vertbaudet which has some really individual stuff

Buy unisex things if you can, even for older kids. I’m not a pink princess mum of a daughter, but I do like her to wear things she likes. However, when it comes to things like coats, I always went unisex, just in case. I mean, you never know who might get to wear it next!

8 Comments

Kelly

I literarily bought 3 newborn sleep suits for my second – as she was born in March and my first was born during the 2013 heatwave and didn’t wear clothes for a month. Literally nothing else. Poor second baby. As she has gotten older though, despite promising myself she would only wear her brothers cast off, I ended up spending so much more on clothes for her. Girls clothes are so much more fun to buy and she had her own personality which just didn’t suit some of his clothes.

We are all about reusing and up cycling in our household and I have to say even though I would of loved both a boy and a girl having another boy meant that all the boxes of clothes I had kept have been put to good use and we have hardly bought any new clothes at all as there simply has not been the need. These are some fantastic tips and babies are only in things for 5 mins so re-using really is the way to go